The Beginning

Day 7/365

Where do I start?!

This is awesome. I’ve officially been on Remote Year for one week and I already feel like a) I’ve been here for a month, b) I have a close-knit group of friends, and c) I’m part of something really special.

We arrived in Lisbon last Sunday and were welcomed by Remote Year staff waiting for us with water, snacks, and a van to our apartments. We’re staying in two university buildings in Picoas, and they’re way nicer than I expected.

Woke up to this view every morning

Rooftop view

Lisbon is beautiful. It’s one of the only cities in Europe that wasn’t affected by the war, so everything is very old. Cobblestone streets, beautiful tiles, and colorful buildings are everywhere. We have two city managers that are from Lisbon, so we’re lucky to have tons of authentic recommendations from them on where to eat, drink, and explore.

Work

Contrary to popular belief I’m also working here! The work week went so much more smoothly than I expected. I’m working later in the day to overlap with eastern hours, and I was surprised to see how many other people are on a similar schedule. Our workspace Beta-i is less than a 10 minute walk from my building, and it’s filled with Portuguese startups and entrepreneurs.

The Remotes

Coming into this year, I was excited for the travel and the adventure, but I had no idea what to expect when it came to the other people, the “remotes.” After spending one week here, I’m blown away by the people I’ve met. Everyone here is so open minded, independent, laid back, welcoming, ambitious, fun, and unique. They come from all walks of life and all different ages, although I think the average age is in the upper 20s. They’re entrepreneurs, freelancers, marketers, graphic designers, developers, teachers, accountants, consultants, the list goes on. I’m pretty sure if I ever need help with anything this year, there will be at least one person who I can reach out to. Everyone has such different backgrounds and interesting stories, and learning about everyone has been my favorite part so far.

That being said, how do I communicate with 70+ people every day? We use Slack, which is a communication tool that lets you direct message people and create different channels based on specific topics. Our Slack group is INSANE. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all the things that are going on every day. There are currently 53 channels in our Slack, and new ones are created every day. People post about restaurants, bars, events, side trip plans, music, workouts, city tours, the list goes on and on. There’s always something to do and someone to do it with, and it can be hard to pick and choose what to do. I think that’s an okay problem to have though 🙂

Week One Highlights

I feel like I’ve done more this week than I usually do in 3 months. Highlights include: